All this stress has caused many a college coach sleepless nights, wondering if a wrong move could cost their top athlete to peak too early or too late and miss out on one or even both of these meets. My philosophy is a simple one. You just run the best you can when you can and let the chips lay where they land. But is it that simple? Do some coaches really have the skills to peak their athletes mentally and physically for these championships while competing week after week on the college and professional circuit ? Well I would say yes, year after year we see Coach John Smith top runners win titles even when the spectators didn’t expect those performances. We also see it in International coaches like Usain Bolt’s coach, Glenn Mills and Coach Francis who coaches Asafa Powell. How do these guys do it year after year with different athletes and get the same results?

A few years ago while I was still competing on the then professional European track circuit called the Grand Prix meets. I read a book called winning the Kenyan way/train hard run fast, or whatever it was called, the point is the secret to their success was in the preparation. As a coach now I can offer that same advise. It has nothing to do with how many races and the competition you run against. Being able to succeed starts like the saying goes “champions are made during the Fall.” I can tell during my Fall work outs who will be able to handle the sprint work load that we will add during the Spring. Like my Kenyan friends say “train hard, run fast” I am not making this stuff up people, success comes from hard work, but that hard work must be supervised by a trained eye who knows when to stop the athlete from getting over training.

This article is about peaking when it counts and this week at the NCAA championships and at the World Indoor Championships you will see the stars and their coaches apply that knowledge of championship running. Please tune in and support team UNC-Chapel Hill and team Jamaica and all the track athletes who have worked hard all Fall and are ready for their shot at being a champion. If you want to learn more about championship running techniques feel free to email me through my website and I will gladly answer your questions or recommend the proper person to contact.

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Track fans it is almost that time of the season when the professional runners start debuting their skills so the public and their sponsors can witness what their coaches have been working on all season. 2012 is an Olympic year and when that occurs you can bet your bottom dollar that the stars are coming to your TV.

This upcoming weekend we are going to see some real World class action with the US Open being the first of the US track series competition however, don’t forget that in Europe the 2012 season has already begun. Stay tuned track fans as I predict a world record in the sprints between now and World Indoor Championships in Istanbul, Turkey which will be held in March.

How can I make such a claim because I can see the writing on the wall and it spells World Record Soon !!!!

As for the athletes I coach we will be transitioning to more intense work outs to get them ready for conference running which will begin shortly.

The first thing I talk about with my athletes is what our goals are at the end of the season. Once that has been nailed down, then we focus on how to achieve those lofty goals that were set. This quote embodies what we work on all season. The time is now and the 2012 season is upon us. Those goals are being put to the test. Anything you do starts with a step and to move in the direction of success you must first make up your mind that you want to be successful. If you want to be the NCAA champion, you first must declare using words that ‘s what you want and work towards it. When I was competing I began everyday by stating in the mirror while getting ready for class that I wanted to be the NCAA champion. This is one of the 7 habits successful habits people use to attain their goals. If you want to be successful, then you do what others before you have done, reach for the stars and you may just touch it.

The first step in actually achieving any goal that you set for yourself is truly believing it can happen. No matter what you try or different techniques that are taught to you, if you don’t think you can do it – it won’t come true.